JPP Portfolio: The Provoke Generation, Rebels in a Turbulent Time

A piece of Japanese photography history in your hands

Project Story

The debut volume in this series, The Provoke Generation: Rebels in a Turbulent Time, captures Japan during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s through the lens of the era’s most innovative photographers. Post-war art of the 60s was both politically charged and sensually vibrant, and for many Japanese photographers, the blurred, grainy qualities of are-bure-boke epitomized the unrest and dissatisfaction with tradition at the time. This collection includes photographers featured in the short-lived avant-garde art magazine Provoke alongside protest photography and photography from the female minority perspective of the time period.

“The Provoke Box” presents a broad view of the historical scope, importance and influence of the Provoke movement. Published by Benrido and produced in collaboration with Project Basho, the portfolio features the work of six photographers who were directly involved with or shaped by the ideas associated to Provoke, and have ultimately come to represent the creative pinnacle of Japanese photography. Featuring Daido Moriyama, Takuma Nakahira, Yutaka Takanashi to Ishiuchi Miyako, Kazuo Kitai and Hitomi Watanabe, each artist portfolio offers viewers a deep engagement with the practices and careers of each photographer. Printed in collotype by the artisans of Kyoto’s Benrido Atelier, the portfolio includes texts by Kōtarō Iizawa, Ryuichi Kaneko, Simon Baker and John W. Dower.

Benrido — Contemporary Collotype

The Benrido Atelier has been producing collotype prints since 1905. Our printers embody an unbroken lineage of masterly artisanship, bringing over a century of experience to their craft. Benrido is one of only a handful of collotype studios that remains today, and is the world’s only producer of full-color photographic collotype prints. We offer photographic artists of the digital age a unique opportunity to realize their creative visions, producing collotypes from digital files in a collaborative image-making process.

About Hariban Award

Professionals and amateurs alike are invited to submit a series of monochromatic photographs for a chance to win the remarkable Hariban Award. The winner will receive an expenses-paid trip to the ancient city of Kyoto to collaborate with the master craftsmen of the Benrido Atelier in producing a portfolio of eight museum-quality collotype prints of his or her winning photographs. This collotype portfolio will be exhibited at Kyotographie, an international photography festival held in Kyoto each spring.